Improvement in car-couplings



ZSheets-Sheetl. W. F. LEOPOLID.

CAR-COUPLING. No.181,691 .PatentedAug. Z9;-18'Z6.

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CAR-COUPLING. N. 131 591 Patented Aug. 29, 1876.

WILLIAM F. LEOPOLD, OF ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HISRIGHT TO PIERRE LE B. OOOMBS, OF SAME PLACE, SAID LEOPOLD AND OOOJIBSASSIGNORS OF ONE-THIRD THEIR RIGHT TO LITTLETON R. LANCASTER, OF SAMEPLACE. a

IMPROVEMENTIN CAR-COUPLINGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 181,691, dated August29, 1876 application filed June 17, 1876.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM F. LEOPOLD, ofSt. Joseph, in the county of Buchanan and State of Missouri, haveinvented certain ImprovementsinAutomatic Gar-Oouplings,which are fullyset forth in the following specification, reference being had to theaccompany. ing drawings.

The aim and object of my improvements are to afford a simple, cheap, andeffective automatic coupler, which is applicable to the ordinary oldstyle of draw-heads which will connect orcouple with such draw-heads;which will couple, if desired, with the ordinary pin and link; isadapted for passenger, but more especially for freight, cars 3 may haveits draw head cast in one piece, and may be cast new or altered fromordinary draw-heads at a trifling cost.

In the drawings, Figure lis a longitudinal section of my couplers Fig.2,a cross-section of one of the draw-heads through the slots and bolt andlocking-piece; Fig. 3, a fragmentary side view; Figs. 4, 5, and 6,similar views showing a modification.

Thedraw-head A is cast substantially of the ordinary size and shape, andhaving the customary holes above and below, as if to receive theordinary coupling pin or bolt. It is'also provided with a depression,slot, or channel, 12, in the lower part, and with a depression, slot, orchannel, 0, in the upper part, both being made or cored out in thecasting, and for purposes hereinafter stated. It has also other slots dd in the upper part, to receive and support, and also to permit themovement of, a pivot or fulcrum-pin, e, on which is hung the swingingcoupling-piece f, which is made of wrought-iron, and constructed with aweighted or overbalanced top, 9, having a constant tendency to throw itslower end forward or toward the mouth of the draw-head until it isarrested in its proper vertical position by coming in contact with thevertical end or abut ment 1 of the depression I). The overbalanced top grests, when unlifted, in a recess or groove, 2, on top of the draw-head,so as to beat least flush with it. It is then always out of the way,and, besides other advantages, if the drawhead plate should break andallow a so that when the pin 0 is in its place,by being inserted through01 into 61, it cannot escape through d, and it is then locked or keptfrom slipping out from d by means of a look-piece, 'i, which is screwedto the draw-head, its upper end closing the mouth of slot d.

To the end of the overbal anced top 9 of the swinging pin or piece falifting-rod, j, and a connecting-link of any suitable kind, areattached, to enable the brakeman, from the platform of passenger or fromthe roof of freight cars, to uncouple the cars by simply lifting" therod, and thereby throwing backward and upward the lower end of theswing-piece, so as to release from it the coupling-link 70, which linkstwo cars together.

It will be understood that the lifting-rod runs in staples or guides inthe end of the car,

and preferably alongside of the rod employed for actuating the brakes.

In coupling, the operation is as follows: The coupling-link 70 beingpreviously arranged in one of the draw-heads in the usual manner, andthe cars brought together, the link, upon passing into the draw-head ofthe next car, pushes back the lower end'of the swinging coupling-pin funtil it has passed beyond it.- This pin f then returns automatically toits position through the agencyof its overbalance. This completes'thecoupling, and the. swing-pin has now two firm bearings or abutmentsagainst the solid body of the drawheadviz., one above and one below itsmouthsimilar in character and effect to those of the ordinarybolt-and-link couplings;

and it will be seen that when the train is inmotion there is no strainor pull whatever upon the pivotal or fulcrum pin 6, as it plays looselyin its slots, and all the strain is sustained by the abutments of thedraw-head, against which the link It pulls the pin f.

In uncoupling, the operation is as follows: The pin f, by raising thelifting-rod j, is raised and thrown forward, (the cars having beenpreviously backed enough to throw the link 70 far back into thedraw-head,) and then, as the cars separate, the link passes under theend of the pin f, and is withdrawn.

In case of any accident occurring to the pin 7, it may be removed atonce by taking out the fulcrum or pivot pin 0 through the lock 2', afterwhich the apparatus is still available as a complete ordinary coupler,needing only an ordinary coupling-pin, the holes for the same beingalready provided in the draw-head.

From the above description it will be seen how simply andeconomically'the draw-heads can be cast in a single piece, with thechannels and slots therein; that when so cast they are available for usein the ordinary way with the ordinary bolt or pin, while, at the sametime, by means of my swing-piece and shifting fulcrum, the whole becomesautomatic.

The coupler-piece f may be provided with a spiral or other spring, 3,(see Figs. 4, 5, 6, heet 2,) to aid in forcing its lower end down afterbeing lifted, and the overbalance 9 may project above the draw-head; butI prefer to make it, as first above described, with its overbalanceheavy enough to dispense with any spring, and also sunk in a recess orgroove in in the draw-head.

ment of the shifting pivot-pin e, on which-the v swinging piecef issustained.

3. The swinging piece f, overbalanced on its top at its rearward end, asshown and described, in combination with a horizontallyshiftingfulcrum-pin and the reacting spring, substantially as set forth.

4.. The combination of the Weighted piece -f,the horizontally andautomatically shifting fulcrumpin e and the upper and lower bearings orabutments in-the draw-head, serving to relieve the shifting-pin of alldrafting strain.

WILLIAM F. LEOPOLD.- Witnesses L. R. LANCASTER, E. J. KNAPP.

